NUMERICAL SOLUTION OF A TRANSMISSION LINE

PROBLEM OF ELECTRODYNAMICS IN A CLASS

OF DISCONTINUOUS FUNCTIONS
TURHAN KARAGULER AND MAHIR RASULOV

A special numerical method for the solution of first-order partial dierential equation
which represents the transmission line problem in a class of discontinuous functions is
described. For this, first, an auxiliary problem having some advantages over the main
problem is introduced. Since the dierentiable property of the solution of the auxiliary
problem is one order higher than the dierentiability of the solution of the main problem,
the application of classical methods to the auxiliary problem can easily be performed.
Some economical algorithms are proposed for obtaining a numerical solution of the auxiliary problem, from which the numerical solution of the main problem can be obtained.
In order to show the eectiveness of the suggested algorithms, some comparisons between
the exact solution and the numerical solution are carried out.
Copyright 2006 T. Karaguler and M. Rasulov. This is an open access article distributed
under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
1. The Cauchy problem
It is known from the electromagnetic field and the circuit theories that the equations for
a current and potential in a transmission line have the following form [1, 3, 4]:
i(x,t) v(x,t)
+
+ Ri(x,t) = 0,
t
x
v(x,t) i(x,t)
+
+ Gv(x,t) = 0.
C
t
x
L

(1.1)
(1.2)

Here v(x,t) and i(x,t) are potential and current at any points x and t, R is resistance
per unit length, L is inductance per unit length, C is capacitance per unit length, and G is
conductance per unit length. These line parameters are taken constant since the medium
is assumed as linear and homogeneous.
The initial condition for (1.1), (1.2) are
i(x,0) = i0 (x),
v(x,0) = v0 (x),
where i0 (x) and v0 (x) are given as continuous or piecewise continuous functions.
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Proceedings of the Conference on Dierential & Dierence Equations and Applications, pp. 501508

(1.3)
(1.4)

502

Numerical solution of transmission line problem

From the Biot-Savard law of electromagnetic theory, when a wire carrying a current
produces a magnetic field around it [1], if this magnetic field changes, the source of it,
which is the current, changes too. This results with a wave which travels through the wire.
This wave will be examined in the frame of transmission line problem.
Heaviside showed that if G/C = R/L equality exsists between the parameter of the
transmission line, then (1.1), (1.2) are reduced to the well-known second-order wave
equation such that
2
2 u
2 u
=
a
,
t 2
x2

(1.5)

where a = 1/ LC.
Using the general solution of (1.5) which is obtained from DAlemberts formula for
both unknown functions i(x,t) and v(x,t), we have (see, [2, 4])


v(x,t) = e(R/L)t (x at) + (x + at) ,



i(x,t) =


C (R/L)t 
(x at) (x + at) .
e
L

(1.6)
(1.7)

Here, the arbitrary functions

() and () are found from the initial conditions such as

v(x,0) = f (x) and i(x,0) = (C/L)F(x).
When the transmission line is too long, which is the common case in practice, then the
following problem occurs. The functions F(x) and f (x) are definite in the (0,l) interval,
however, the solutions obtained with the formulas of (1.6) and (1.7) require values of
f (x) and F(x) functions for arbitrary x values. This will enforce the extension of f (x)
and F(x) functions beyond the interval of (0, l).
On the other hand, it is known from the literature that the solution of (1.5) has weak
discontinuity on the characteristics. This means that the solution is on the characteristics,
and continuously dierentiable, but its first-order derivatives are piecewise continously
dierentiable. This property prevents applying well-known numerical methods in the literature to the equation of type (1.5) such as the system of (1.1) and (1.2). Furthermore, if
the initial functions posses the singular points, the numerical methods mentioned above
fail even worst. The weak solutions of the problem of (1.1)(1.4) are defined as follows.
Definition 1.1. The functions i(x,t), v(x,t) satisfying the initial conditions (1.3), (1.4) are
called the weak solutions of the problem (1.1)(1.4) if for any test functions f (x,t) which
are equal to zero at the value t = T and at the boundary of the plane t+ | x |, the integral
relations




DT


DT

Li(x,t) ft + v(x,t) fx Ri(x,t) dx dt + L



Cv(x,t) ft + i(x,t) fx Gv(x,t) dx dt + C

 +

 +

i0 (x) f (x,0)dx = 0,
(1.8)

v0 (x) f (x,0)dx = 0

hold.
As seen from (1.8), i(x,t) and v(x,t) are not necessarily to be countinous.

T. Karaguler and M. Rasulov 503

1.1. Auxiliary problem. As it is known, the derivatives of the solutions of (1.1), (1.2)
with respect to x and t are discontinuous on the characteristics of the equations. This
requires that the applied method to find the numerical solution must have high accuracy.
Because of this, in this paper, a new numerical method to obtain the weak solution of the
problem (1.1)(1.4) in a class of discontinuous functions is suggested. For this aim, along
with the references [47], a special auxiliary problem, as below,
I(x,t)
+ V (x,t) + RI(x,t) = 0,
t
V (x,t)
C
+ I(x,t) + GV (x,t) = 0,
t
I(x,0) = I0 (x),
L

V (x,0) = V0 (x)

(1.9)
(1.10)
(1.11)
(1.12)

is introduced. Here I0 (x) and V0 (x) are any continuously dierentiable functions which
satisfy the equations of dI0 (x)/dx = i0 (x) and dV0 (x)/dx = v0 (x).
The auxiliary problem has the following advantages.
(1) When to employ the i(x,t) and v(x,t), no need to use their derivatives with respect
to x and t.
(2) The dierentiability property of I(x,t), V (x,t) functions is one degree higher than
dierentiability property of i(x,t) and v(x,t) functions.
One of the most significant advantages of the auxiliary problem is that the well-known
methods are applicable to it. Even on the basis of auxiliary problem, the higher-order
finite-dierences scheme are allowed to develop.
Theorem 1.2. If I(x,t) and V (x,t) are the solutions of the problem (1.9)(1.12), then the
functions i(x,t) and v(x,t) defined by
I(x,t)
,
x
V (x,t)
v(x,t) =
x
i(x,t) =

(1.13)
(1.14)

expressions are the weak solutions of the problem (1.1)(1.4) only in a sense of (1.8).
As it is obvious from (1.9), (1.10) that the equations are freed from the time and space
derivative terms of i(x,t) and v(x,t). Therefore the functions i(x,t) and v(x,t) can be
discontinuous too. This would make it possible to develop accurate and economical algorithms for obtaining the solution which represent the physical properties of the problem.
2. Initial-boundary value problem for transmission line equation
As usual, we denote R+ = {(x,t), x > 0, t > 0}. In this section, by adding the following
boundary conditions, we will investigate the considered initial value problem:
i(0,t) = i1 (t),

(2.1)

v(0,t) = v1 (t).

(2.2)

504

Numerical solution of transmission line problem

Here, i1 and v1 are known functions. In general, we assume that the functions ik and
vk (k = 1,2) can be discontinuous too. The weak solution of the problem is specified in
the following definition as follows.
Definition 2.1. The functions i(x,t) and v(x,t) satisfy the (1.3)-(1.4) initial, and the (2.1)
and (2.2) boundary conditions are called the weak solutions of the initial-boundary value
problem if for any test function f (x,t) satisfying f (x,T) = 0 and is equal to zero on the
boundary of the t + x half-space, the integral relations


Li(x,t) ft (x,t) + v(x,t) fx (x,t) Ri(x,t) dx dt

Rt

+L


0


Rt

i0 (x) f (x,0)dx +

T
0

v1 (t) f (0,t)dt = 0,
(2.3)

Cv(x,t) ft (x,t) + i(x,t) fx (x,t) Gv(x,t) dx dt

+C


0

v0 (x) f (x,0)dx +

T
0

i1 (t) f (0,t)dt = 0

hold.
According to [5, 6], the auxiliary problem for the initial-boundary value problem
which is shown above can be written as


x
x
i(,t)d + v(x,t) + R i(,t)d = v(0,t),
t 0
0

x
x
v(,t)d + i(x,t) + G v(,t)d = i(0,t).
C
t 0
0

(2.4)
(2.5)

The initial conditions for the auxiliary equations (2.4), (2.5) will be the same as the
boundary conditions of the main problem (1.3)-(1.4).
3. Finite-dierences schema and numerical experiments
In order to obtain the numerical solution of the problem (1.1)(1.4), at first, we cover the
domain of definition of the definition of the solutions by the following grid as
h, =

xi ,tk | xi = ih; tk = k, i = 0, 1, 2,...; k = 0,1,2,...; h > 0, > 0 .

(3.1)

Here, h and are the steps of the grid h, with respect to x and t variables, respectively.
Then the auxiliary problem (1.9)(1.12) is approximated at any grid point (i,k),


vi,k + RIi,k ,
L


Vi,k+1 = Vi,k ii,k + GVi,k ,
C
 
Ii,0 = I0 xi ,

Ii,k+1 = Ii,k

 

Vi,0 = V0 xi .

(3.2)
(3.3)
(3.4)
(3.5)

T. Karaguler and M. Rasulov 505

Here, Ii,k and Vi,k represent the approximate values of the functions I(x,t) and V (x,t)
at the point (i,k) of the wh, grid.
Theorem 3.1. If the mesh functions Ii,k and Vi,k are the numerical solutions of the auxiliary
problem (3.2)(3.5), then
ii,k = Ix ,

(3.6)

vi,k = Vx
are the numerical solutions of the main problem.

Equations (3.2), (3.3) suggest that the algorithm is very simple and economical. Furthermore, on the basis of auxiliary equations (1.9), (1.10), higher-order finite-dierence
schemes with respect to t can be developed.
In order to approximate the auxiliary equations (2.4),
 x (2.5) by means of finite-dierence method, the quadrature formula is applied to the 0 (z)dz as
x
0

(z)dz hij =1 (z j ).

(3.7)

Considering (3.7), (2.4), and (2.5) can be approximated by means of finite dierence
as
Ii,k+1 =

i 1

 

ht   
V1 tk RIi,k Vi,k
I j,k+1 I j,k + Ii,k ,
L
j =0
i 1

 

h   
V j,k+1 V j,k + Vi,k .
Vi,k+1 = t I1 tk Ii,k GVi,k
C
j =0

(3.8)

In order to demonstrate the eectiveness of the suggested algorithm, firstly, we investigate (1.5) with the initial conditions (1.3), (1.4). As initial functions, we have a piecewise
dierentiable functions given as

0,


u1 

x x1 ,

x x1
f (x) = 3
u1 x x ,

x3 x2

0,

x < x1 ,
x1 x x3 ,
x3 x x2 ,

0,

F(x) = c0 ,

0,

x < x1 ,
x1 x x2 ,

(3.9)

x > x2 .

x > x2 ,

The numerical experiments have been carried out for the data x1 = 2.0, x2 = 2.0, x3 =
0.0, u1 = 1.0, c0 = 2.0.

Numerical solution of transmission line problem

0.4

16

0.3

12
u(x, t)

u(x, t)

506

0.2
0.1
0

8
4

25 15

15

25

25 15

15

25

(a)

(b)

Figure 3.1. The graphs of the exact solution at T = 40 for (a) the case f (x) 
= 0 and F(x) = 0; (b) the
= 0.
case f (x) = 0 and F(x) 

In order to implement the auxiliary problem, at first the functions I0 , V0 are obtained
as follows:

0,


3

x x1

,
A

I0 (x) =

x < x1 ,
x1 x x3 ,

3 u 


B

x x2 + 1 x x1 x + E,

6
2

u1 

x x2 x1 ,

0,

2

V1 (x) = c0 x x1 ,


 c 


c0 x x2 x1 + 0 x12 x22 ,
2

x3 x x 2 ,
x > x2 ,

(3.10)

x < x1 ,
x1 x x2 ,
x > x2 .

Here A = u1 /(x3 x1 ), B = u1 /(x3 x2 ), E = (B/6)x12 + x3 (x2 x1 ) x22 .

In Figure 3.1, the solution of the Cauchy problem of (1.5) defined by the DAlemberts
formula is illustrated. Figure 3.2 shows the solution of the auxiliary problem having the
same initial data as the main problem.
As these graphs, Figures 3.1 and 3.2 illustrate that the solutions of the auxiliary and
main problems match very well. This clearly proves the usefulness of the auxiliary problem. The graphics of solutions obtained by the auxiliary problem are given in Figure 3.3.
Comparing the results shown in Figures 3.1(a) and 3.3(b), we observe that the numerical solution obtained from the auxiliary problem is very much similar to the solutions
obtained from the classical methods.
The graphs of solutions of the problem (1.5) with the data f (x) = 2cosx, F(x) =
10cosx, R = 0.02, L = 2.5 105 , C = 105 , G = 0.2 are demonstrated in Figure 3.4.

T. Karaguler and M. Rasulov 507

18

0.4

14
u(x, t)

u(x, t)

0.3
0.2
0.1

10
6
2

25 15

15

2
25 15

25

15

25

(a)

(b)

Figure 3.2. (a) The time evolution of the solution of the auxiliary problem; (b) the graph of u(x,t) =
2 v(x,t)/x2 , f (x) 
= 0, F(x) = 0 at T = 40.

50

30

Ui,k

Vi,k

40

20
10
0

25 15

15

25

0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0.1

25 15

xi

15

25

xi

(a)

(b)

0.6

0.4
0.2

i(x, t)

v(x, t)

Figure 3.3. The time evolution of the numerical solution obtained by using the auxiliary problem
= 0, F(x) = 0. (a) Solution of the auxiliary problem; (b) the graph of Ui,k = Vxx .
f (x) 

1
3
2

0
0.2
0.4

10

15

0.6

x
Data 1
Data 2

(a)

10
x

Data 1
Data 2

(b)

Figure 3.4. The graphs of v(x,t) and i(x,t) solutions.

15

508

Numerical solution of transmission line problem

4. Conclusion
Introduction of the auxiliary problem has several advantages over the main problem.
Firstly, the well-known numerical methods can easily be applied to the auxiliary problem.
Further, the auxiliary problem lets higher-order finite-dierences schemes be used. This
leads to developing simple algorithms.
References
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]

D. K. Cheng, Field and Wave Electromagnetics, Addison-Wesley, New York, 2001.

S. K. Godunov, Equations of Mathematical Physics, Nauka, Moscow, 1979.
W. H. Hayt and J. A. Buck, Engineering Electromagnetics, 6th ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, 2001.
N. S. Koshlakov, Partial Dierential Equations of Mathematical Physics, Bishaya Skola, Moscow,
1970.
[5] M. Rasulov, On a method of solving the Cauchy problem for a first order nonlinear equation of
hyperbolic type with a smooth initial condition, Soviet Mathematics Doklady 43 (1991), no. 1,
150153.
, Finite Dierence Scheme for Solving of Some Nonlinear Problems of Mathematical Physics
[6]
in a Class of Discontinuous Functions, Baku, 1996.
[7] M. Rasulov and T. A. Ragimova, A numerical method of the solution of the nonlinear equation of
a hyperbolic type of the first order dierential equations, Minsk 28 (1992), no. 7, 20562063.

Turhan Karaguler: Department of Mathematics and Computing, Faculty of Science and Letters,
Beykent University, Beykent 34500, Buyukcekmece-Istanbul, Turkey
E-mail address: turank@beykent.edu.tr
Mahir Rasulov: Department of Mathematics and Computing, Faculty of Science and Letters,
Beykent University, Beykent 34500, Buyukcekmece-Istanbul, Turkey
E-mail address: mresulov@beykent.edu.tr